Gay people have ‘poorer health’ and ‘GP issues’

“Lesbians, gays and bisexuals are more likely to have longstanding mental health problems,” The Independent reports, as well as “bad experiences with their GP”. A UK survey found striking disparities in survey responses compared to heterosexuals.

The news is based on the results of a survey in England of more than 2 million people, including over 27,000 people who described themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

It found that sexual minorities were two to three times more likely to report having longstanding psychological or emotional problems and significantly more likely to report fair/poor health than heterosexuals.

People who described themselves as bisexuals had the highest rates of reported psychological or emotional problems. The researchers speculate that this could be due to a “double discrimination” effect; homophobia from the straight community as well as being stigmatised by the gay and lesbian communities as not being “properly gay” (biphobia).

Sexual minorities were also more likely to report unfavourable experiences with nurses and doctors in a GP setting.

Unfortunately this study cannot tell us the reasons for the differences reported in either health or relationships with GPs.

The results of this survey would certainly seem to suggest that there is room for improvement in the standard and focus of healthcare offered to gay, lesbian and bisexual people.